Why Are We Here? Full Text Test Page
The holojournal crackles to life in your hands, and an eager young voice speaks. “I am Ambrose of the Gray Jedi Order. I have been tasked with recording the teachings of my master, Gin Tsun, so that these histories won’t be forgotten again. All that follows are Master Tsun’s words. Heed them. Learn from them. Do not allow the galaxy to forget itself again.” The Death of Balance Welcome, everyone. My name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you. If you are here, you’ve either chosen - or been ordered - to explore the history of our galaxy and of the Force. There is no better place to begin than the beginning. Does anyone know what the oldest known civilization is? The Celestials. Sometimes called the Whills. These beings ruled the known galaxy – and possibly more – for over 100,000 years. Their power in the Force was unrivaled, matched only by their incredible technology. Who knows of the Maw? Centerpoint Station? The Maw, a cluster of black holes, and Centerpoint Station, the largest and most powerful artificial construct known, are both samples of the Celestials’ power. They utilized their power to maintain Balance in the Force across the stars. No one is sure why they vanished. Most believe they merged with, and guide, the Force. Some have posited that they worked with or even enslaved the Force and lost control. Others believe they were exterminated. Whatever the cause, the Celestials' disappearance coincides perfectly with the rise of the Rakatan Infinite Empire. Who can tell me of the Rakata? The Rakatan Infinite Empire began its conquest of the stars more than 30,000 years ago. They spread out across the void using technology fueled by the Dark Side of the Force. They enslaved and exterminated thousands of worlds. Who can tell me the great irony that began their conquest? They were found and upraised by servants of the Balance, and of the Celestials, called the Kwa. These beings gifted technologies and knowledge of the Force to species they believed capable of greatness. For their generosity, the Kwa were the first to die. Who can tell me the great irony that their conquest resulted in? The precursor to the Jedi Order, the Je’daii Order, was founded by beings gathered by mysterious ships called Tho Yor, sent out by the Kwa. The same Order barely survived an invasion by the Rakata 10,000 years later and as a result was torn asunder. To defeat the invading Empire, the Je’daii, masters of both Dark and Light, were forced to rely mostly upon the Dark. There were those among the Order who refused to relinquish this power once the threat was defeated. There were others who refused to ever again touch the Dark. These two factions split the Je’daii and began what are known as the Force Wars. The Light triumphed and destroyed the followers of the Dark. These individuals renamed themselves Jedi and dedicated themselves to Light. These events set in motion a pendulum, a swing within the Force. From its resting place in Balance it was violently wrenched because of the actions of those too benevolent, too arrogant to understand the risk that simple savages posed. It is from the swing of this pendulum that every great conflict between Light and Dark in the galaxy is born. Because of one act of generosity, a galaxy at peace for hundreds of millennia has scarcely known it since. This is the lesson today. As Force-empowered individuals, your actions will have consequences – often beyond your ability to predict or understand. Our next lesson will cover the First and Second Great Schisms of the Jedi Order. For now, dismissed. The Dark Returns Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you. In our last lesson we discussed the Celestials, guardians of the Balance, and how the act of one of their servant races, the Kwa, led to the creation of the Rakatan Infinite Empire. This led to the destruction of the Kwa and of the Je’daii Order, the Jedi’s precursors who were devoted to Balance between Light and Dark rather than just the Light. The Rakata helped create the modern Jedi in this way. This class, as all history classes I teach, will focus both on Force theory and on the history of our galaxy. One of the most important lessons I can teach you is that these two things are one and the same. Those among you who spent time with the Jedi believe that the Force is an energy that surrounds and permeates all that we know – that it has a will that is enacted through manipulating our minds and bodies. The more Dark-inclined among you think of the Force as an ends to a mean, the tool you use to improve yourselves and take what you want. Those of you who have spent time meditating on and exploring both side of the Force know that both are, in a way, true. The Force has a will, and scholars have failed for millennia to decipher it. It guides, if not controls, most every event in history. However, many have lived long and prosperous lives through Dark Side manipulations and powers, gathering treasure, knowledge, and followers through the control they exert over and through the Force. Both are correct in their own fashion. The Force has a will and imposes it upon the galaxy, but the strong-willed and powerful among us may, for a time, impose their own will upon it. Both are also wrong. They ignore millennia of opposing tradition and knowledge in the belief that their way is best. They are both driven by fear – fear that should they open themselves to another aspect of the Force, they wouldn’t return. It is this fear that the Gray are above. We accept both sides of the Force to some degree, and use it in its fullness. It is this fear that makes both sides hate us. Any questions thus far? Though the Je’daii Order was destroyed from the inside by sudden devotion to one side of the Force or the other, there were opportunities beyond that point for the Jedi to recover their birthright – mastery of the Force in Balance. The most promising among these is now known as the First Great Schism of the Jedi Order. Does anyone know what brought this on? A human Jedi Knight named Xendor grew tired of the Jedi’s increasing devotion to the Light and their ever-tightening grip on who was permitted to learn and what was permitted to teach. He wished to open his own temple to teach the Dark Side. When they refused, he abandoned the Order and created an academy on Lettow to teach what the Jedi would not. Though many of their traditions were brought over from the Jedi, they focused on teachings of Balance and Darkness. The Jedi Order has always been unable to accept Force traditions they cannot control, and when Xendor’s followers continued to grow in number the Order created an army to destroy them. The Legions of Lettow were destroyed and Xendor murdered. This was the Jedi’s final opportunity to return to the Balance without bloodshed, but their pride and fear claimed their reason. Because of this arrogance, the next Dark Order to rise did so through blood and steel. A group of Dark Jedi believing themselves to be the heirs of the Legions of Lettow’s legacy split from the Order and waged war on the Jedi and the young Galactic Republic. This war is known as the Hundred-Year Darkness and the Second Great Schism. These, too, were defeated, but at far greater cost. These Dark Jedi and their followers honed their Dark arts into weapons of war, giving birth to Leviathans and other monstrosities. For a century the Dark Jedi refined their craft in the forge of war. And when the Jedi attained victory, how did they punish their Dark brothers? They weakened, saddened by the lessons learned after exterminating the Legions of Lettow. They let the Dark Jedi live and merely exiled them. These exiles traveled into the unknown regions and came across a planet rich in the Dark Side of the Force. Inhabited by strange and warlike aliens called Sith, the planet Korriban soon kneeled to the Dark Jedi – the first Lords of the Sith. Through arrogance, pride, and fear, the Jedi forged the very weapons they most despise. Never forget – be wise in your treatment of others. Give when there is room to give – and kill when there is not. Our next lesson will cover the new Sith Empire and the Great Hyperspace War. Dismissed. The War to Begin all Wars Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you. In our last lesson, we covered the First and Second Great Schisms and how the surviving Dark Jedi from the latter were exiled rather than executed. This led to the creation of the Lords of the Sith and the Sith Empire which has plagued the Jedi and Republic in one form or another for over a thousand years, now. In that lesson one can begin to understand the means by which the Force maintains its balance. The Light, represented by the Jedi and their Republic, inevitably gave birth to Darkness. Though they cast this Darkness out, it nevertheless survived. The arrogance of the Jedi Order led them to believe they could only act out of compassion and protection, and so they allowed themselves to spare an enemy that would one day bring them to their knees. For millennia after the exile of the Dark Jedi, the Republic and burgeoning Sith Empire knew peace. The Sith, trapped behind the hyperspace obstacle known as the Stygian Caldera, experienced a Golden Age of stability and prosperity until two citizens of the Republic stumbled across them by accident. Gav and Jori Daragon were hyperspace explorers, hoping to chart new lanes to undiscovered worlds ripe for trade or colonization. Upon landing on Korriban during the funeral ceremony of Marka Ragnos and seeing the gold and jewels that the gathered Sith wore, the two believed they’d succeeded. However, they were almost immediately imprisoned and used for the political machinations of Naga Sadow, who called them Republic spies and utilized the fear of invasion to consolidate power and name himself the new Dark Lord of the Sith. Though the ruling council of the Sith sentenced the Daragons to death for the assumed subterfuge, Naga Sadow, acting as a “friend,” saved their lives. In truth, he did so to continue using them as pawns. After stealing their weapons and using them to fake an attack by the Republic, Naga Sadow led the Sith to a preemptive invasion of Republic space, launching attacks on multiple worlds at once, including Coruscant. This is known as the Great Hyperspace War. Naga Sadow, utilizing a Meditation Sphere that amplified his power and acted as his personal ship, bolstered the Sith’s forces with illusory fleets and armies that, while fake, still inflicted great damage. Gav Daragon, who had begun to learn Sith magics as Naga Sadow’s apprentice, betrayed him for this invasion, breaking his concentration and letting the Republic’s armies regroup, effectively ending the Sith invasion shortly after it began. The Jedi learned from their mistakes of the past and attempted to ensure the Sith would never again plague them – the Republic and the Jedi attempted to wipe out the Sith Empire and all within it. Your lesson is this - the Force will always seek a return to Balance. The Light reigned unchallenged and gave birth to Dark. The Dark, as its nature entails, attempted to dominate and destroy the Light and was punished for it. And the Light once again gave rise to Darkness. It was the Sith Empire’s fear of extinction that allowed a Sith Lord named Vitiate to become one of the most powerful beings in history. I will speak more of him in the next lesson. Dismissed. The Titan's Rise Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you. In our last lesson, we explored the Great Hyperspace War that took place in a little over one thousand years ago, from the Dark Jedi who conquered Korriban to the Jedi’s attempted purge of the Sith Empire. I showed you how one can observe the will of the Force through these events – the unity of the Light challenged by the Dark, the threat of the Dark dashed by the Light, how they both survived and even thrived because of their opponent. Today we cover one of the most powerful Force-users the galaxy has ever known. In a corner of Sith space, uninterested in the political machinations and combat of the last century, a little-known Sith Lord ruled his planet and studied the Dark Side of the Force - Lord Vitiate of Nathema. However insignificant he may have seemed, it is this Sith who fooled the remaining Sith Lords, using and emphasizing the Republic’s attempted purge of the Sith Empire to spread fear throughout their space, into fueling his ritual. Already a master manipulator and capable of dominating the minds of powerful Force-users, Vitiate conducted a ritual utilizing Sith Magic and the Machine God Zildrog to consume all life, and all the Force, on his home planet, channeling it into him. Lord Vitiate is one of the first in memory to claim the title of Sith Emperor, and it is by this simple honorific that he was known for most of his rule. Leading the remaining Sith on a needlessly perilous journey through the Unknown Regions in order to cement himself as their savior, the Sith Emperor “rediscovered” Dromund Kaas and tamed its jungles, making it the seat of his new Empire. In truth, he had learned of Dromund Kaas’s existence and location years previous. This, again, was a part of his manipulations of the remaining Sith, forcing them to rely upon him further and further. During his reign, the Empire spread throughout the Unknown Regions and conquered any life it found. The Sith Empire became, at its core, a militant society, with all aspects of its civilization designed to bolster and benefit its armies and navy. This is, perhaps, one of the more subtle means by which one can understand the Emperor’s goal: survival. Defending his Empire, making it stronger, meant he was safer. To understand the Sith Emperor, you must understand his obsession with living forever. Over the next thousand years, the Emperor built his Empire into one of the most formidable and dangerous machines of war the galaxy has ever known. This allowed him to work towards one of many important goals: the destruction of the Republic and the Jedi, the greatest threats to his survival. This being, who began life as a man and became a force of nature, was able to do so because he was overlooked. Lord Vitiate was ignored for his scholarly nature, and because of his uninterrupted studies he consumed two planets with millions of beings, lived and ruled for over a millennium, and controlled two incredibly powerful empires. Never underestimate a historian. And never underestimate the value of isolation and secrecy. Our next lesson will cover the Mandalorian Wars and how the Sith Emperor helped spark them. Dismissed. The Death of a Planet, Birth of a Legend Welcome, everyone. For those who have not met me, my name is Gin Tsun. While you are in my class, please call me “Tsun.” If you have a question or wish to contribute, you will raise your hand and I will call on you. Our last lesson discussed the origins and rise to power of Vitiate, known also as the Sith Emperor and Valkorion. Through his study and his patience, he went from a little-known and scholarly Lord to the seemingly-immortal ruler of the resurgent Sith Empire. A fallen Jedi historian and philosopher named Kreia, known also as Darth Traya, posited that one should not take an action unless one is aware of and prepared for all possible consequences. But she was mortal and lived no longer than most. With her limited time alive, she became adept at predicting most consequences of her manipulations, but could never predict them all. Vitiate, however, could. With centuries of life and experience with manipulations and domination, Vitiate could contemplate a course of action for longer than most beings lived. It is through his incredible cunning and patience that he, by proxy, started a conflict that nearly saw the Republic destroyed. The Mandalorian Wars. Decades after Exar Kun, thinking himself a Sith though we know now that he was merely a pretender, waged war on the Republic, Mandalore the Ultimate was approached by a Red Sith. This Sith claimed to be the emissary of a powerful Sith Lord in exile, and he enlisted Mandalore’s aid in finding the tomb of a former rival – Dramath the Second, who in reality was Vitiate’s half-brother. On the completion of this mission, the Sith told Mandalore of a vision his master had of the Mandalorians sweeping across the stars, crushing the Republic underfoot. These words, woven through the Force as much as sound, dominated Mandalore’s mind. Obediently, Mandalore began his assault. The resulting sixteen years of brutal, bloody war saw the Republic nearly destroyed, the desolation of entire planets, and the deaths of millions – if not billions. And all because Vitiate wanted to test the Republic’s military prowess. The Mandalorians, in their love of battle, took the war to a new level during the Battle of Cathar when they chose to completely wipe out the planet’s population. The only Cathar to survive were those stuffed into transports and sent to the stars as refugees. This act, though it took place early in the war, was not discovered for twelve years. A group of Jedi, seeking proof that the Mandalorians warranted Jedi intervention, came to Cathar and as a group witnessed, through a vision, the Cathar being driven into the sea as the Mandalorians boiled them alive. This group, the Revanchists, was led by a man who abandoned all claims to identity save the need to avenge the Cathar species – Revan. Our next lesson will be on Revan’s effects on and relationship with the Mandalorian Wars and the terrible cost they came with. Dismissed.